Martin McGuinness

Martin McGuinness (23 May 1950-) was Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland from 8 May 2007 to 9 January 2017, succeeding Mark Durkan, and leader of Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland from 8 May 2007 to 9 January 2017, succeeding Gerry Adams and preceding Michelle O'Neill.

Biography
Martin McGuinness was born in Derry, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland on 23 May 1950 to an Irish Catholic family. McGuinness was a member of the Official IRA and Provisional IRA during the Troubles, and he was second-in-command of the IRA in Derry at the time of Bloody Sunday in 1972. In 1974, he left the IRA and became involved with Sinn Fein, the political wing of the movement. In 1982, he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont, representing Derry, but he did not take up his seat, a practice common among Sinn Fein and Social Democratic and Labor Party members. McGuinness became Sinn Fein's chief negotiator during the peace process of the 1990s, leading to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. From 2007 to 2017, he was both Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland and leader of Sinn Fein in the province, and he decided to resign in January 2017 in order to force Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster out of the government due to her waste of Northern Irish money and her anti-Irish programs. He called a halt to the DUP's arrogance with his resignation, and Michelle O'Neill became the new Sinn Fein leader in the province.